Background: Obesity is an evolving major health problem in both developed and developing countries. Traditional obesity indices as body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip-ratio are well known measures to identify obese subjects, however, neck circumference as an index of upper-body obesity was found to be a simple and time-saving screening measure that can be used to identify obesity and the likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetic patients.
Aim: to investigate the relationship of neck circumference (NC) to obesity and metabolic syndrome in Iraqi subjects with type 2 diabetes.
Methods: The study group included 90 type 2 diabetic subjects (48 men and 42 women) aged 30-68 years. The subjects were those w

     This is a contribution to study the complex effect of rainfall on the incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in an endemic area (AL-Mohalabiya) in Ninava province in the north region of Iraq.
 

Abiotic stress-induced genes may lead to understand the response of plants and adaptability to salinity and drought stresses. Differential display reverse transcriptase – polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) was used to investigate the differences in gene expression between drought- and salinity-stressed plantlets of Ruta graveolens. Direct and stepwise exposures to drought- or salt-responsive genes were screened in R. graveolens plantlets using the DDRT technique. Gene expression was investigated both in the control and in the salt or drought-stressed plantlets and differential banding patterns with different molecular sizes were observed using the primers OPA-01 (646,770 and 983 pb), OPA-08 (593 and 988 pb), OPA-11 (674 and 831 pb

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the possible the association between +3061 (G>A, rs1143676) missense mutation in exon 24 of the integrin α-4 subunit (ITGA-4) gene and the response to natalizumab in a sample of Iraqi multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: A sample of 59 patients with multiple sclerosis (16 males and 43 females; mean age of 32 years; age range of 15 to 52 years) receiving natalizumab for at least 12 consecutive months were involved in the study between March and August/ 2022. The sample was categorized into two groups according to their response to natalizumab treatment (responders and non-responders). Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger’s sequencing for the extracted deoxyribonucleic acid was pe

The research aims to study the effect of adding (Li2O) to an alkaline glaze containing (K2O, Na2O). Although all the alkaline oxides have common properties, each oxide has something that distinguishes it. The molecular weight of (Li2O) is two times less than that of (Na2O) and three times that of (K2O). Therefore, it is added in small proportions. In addition, it is a very strong flux, so it is not used alone, but rather replaces a part of other alkaline oxides. It was added to an alkali glass that matured at a temperature of 980CO in proportions (2.0,1.4,1.2,0.8,0.4%) instead of (Na2O), using lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) as an oxide source. The glazes mixtures were applied to a white pottery body, and the samples were fired and cooled acc

This study was conducted at the poultry farm of the Department of Animal Production/College of Agriculture/University of Baghdad/Abu Ghraib, on 252 birds (180 females and 72 males). This study aims to observe the effect of melatonin implantation and exposure to different light colors and their interaction on characteristics of fertility and hatching of local Iraqi chickens. The birds were divided into three sections (white, red and green) each section contains two lines, one of which has been planted melatonin under the skin of the neck of birds and the other has not been planted hormones. The results showed that melatonin implantation and exposure to different light colors did not significantly affect the hatching rate of fertilized eggs a

Al-Si alloys which are widely used in engineering applications due to their outstanding properties can be modified for more enhancements in their properties. Current work investigated the ability of these alloys to be modified by casting them through the addition of nanoparticles. So, Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) and titanium carbide ceramic particles (TIC) with size of (20 nm) were added with different amounts started from (0.5 up to 3%) weight  to cast alloy A356 that was considered to be the base metal matrix, then stirred with different speeds of (270, 800, 1500, 2150) rpm at 520 °C for one minute. The results showed change in microstructure’ shape of the casted alloys from the dendritic to spherical gra